Roller guide



June 25, 1946. c J GAYKQWSK] 2,402,546

ROLLER GUIDE Filed March 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR CHA RL ESJ. 6A y/(owsm,

Patented June 25, 1946 s-rmsfmm" OFFICE.

Charles J. Gaykowski, Cleveland, Ohio Application Mai-ch12, 1945, Serial No. 582,341

I 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a roller guide and more particularly to such a guide for usein guiding strip into a cold rolling mill, the guide maintaining the travel of the strip in a straight line substantially perpendicular to the axis of the rolls and at the same time preventing any lateral movement of the strip out of its original position during the rolling operation. Unless guides of some sort are used to bear against the edges of the strip and thus control its direction of travel into the work rolls the strip tends to travel laterally back and forth across the roll faces and thus set up rolling conditions which are not uni-' form. The aforementioned conditions are more likely to occur in a single-stand mill than in a tandem mill in which certain amount of back tension is applied between stands. However, the guide can also be used to guide strip into continuous processing machines. At present,-two general types of guides are normally used. The one type uses stationary guide plates made of brass or similar soft material and since the plates are softer than the strip, they become worn and must be continually replaced. The strip also cuts into the stationary plates and picks up small amounts of brass which are rolled into the strip by the mill. Roller guides consisting of several individually supported rollers are also used, but the rollers often stick or jam on their supporting axles due to the impossibility of lubricating them because of the fear of splashing the lubricant on the strip material which in some cases is very undesirable. The rollers may have a V-shaped periphery in which case excessive'wear occurs at the bottom of the V.

It is an object of my invention to provide a roller guide wherein the rollers are supported for individual rotation and also for movement in the direction of travel of the guided material.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the guide in place on a rolling mill;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line III-III of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the roller guide unit;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line V--V of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line VIP-VI oif Figure 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

. 2 reference numeral 2 indicates the housing of a conventional two-high cold rolling mill having rolls 6 journaled therein, On the entry side of the mill there is the usual guide table '6 having a groove 8 therein extending transversely of the path of travel of the strip S to the rolls 4. A conventional guide box i6 is fastened to the table 6 by means of studs I2 which pass through flanges Hat each side of the guide box and are threaded into tapped holes "5 in the table 6. The roller guide of my invention consists of two units l8,

' one on: each side of the strip and adjusted and positioned in-the guide box Hi to bring the rollers into contact with'the edge of the strip. For this adjustment, any conventional means may be used thereof is connected to the bottom plate 26 by a center plate 36. The center plate is received in the recesses 28 and 34- and is spaced from the walls thereof to form an endless race 38 in each of plates 26 and 32. The'center plate 36 is 'provided with three threaded openings 40 for receiving fiat headed screws 42 which pass through countersunk openings in the top and bottom plates to fasten them together. Dowel pins 46 are driven into aligned openings 48 in plates 26, 32 and 36 to provide additional fastening means and to insure alignment of the parts. Wearing strips 50 are positioned in the bottom of recesses 28 and 34 to provide wearing surfaces for hardened rollers52, whichare mounted in the races 38 and extend around the center plate 36, as best shown in Figure 5. It will be seen that the guide permits individual rotation of the rollers and also mass movement thereof around the center plate in the direction of travel of the strip, this resulting in a continuously changing bearing surface made up of a multiplicity of successive points of contact which increases the life of the guide.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may recesses to form an upper and a lower endless 10 race therearound, and a plurality of elongated rollers around said center plate mounted for free movement with their upper and lower ends received in said upper and lower races respectively.

4 2. A guide comprising a bottom plate having a recess in the upper portion thereof, a top plate having a recess in the lower portion thereof, a center plate extending between and fastened to said top and bottom plates in said recesses, said top plate being removable from said center plate, said center plate being spaced from the walls of the recesses to form an upper and a lower endless race therearound, and a plurality.of elongated 'rollers around said center plate mounted for free movement with their upper and lower ends received in said upper and lower races respectively.

CHARLES J. GAYKOWSKI. 

